ehbets



(No Model.)

C. J. EHBETS.

BREBGH LOADING PIRE ARM.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARL J. EHBETS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO TPIE COLTS PATENTFIRE ARMS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

BREECH-LOADI SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 341,227,dated May 4, 1886.

I Application filed September 14, 1885. Serial No. 177,087. (No model.)

.To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL J. EHBETs, of Hartford, in the county ofHartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inBreech-Loading Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare the following, whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters ofreference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe Io same, and which said drawings constitute part of thisspecification, and represent, in-

Figure l, asectional side view of the breechpiece,gbarrel, locking-leverand hammer, and the abutment in the receiver, a portion of thebreech-piece broken away to show vertical section through the firingpin;Fig. 2, a longitudinal central section through the breechpiece andlockinglever, showing the guard as thrown to its rear position in theunlocking 2o movement of the breech-piece; Fig. 3, the same parts as inFig. 2 in the extreme rear position; Fig. 4, a top View of thelockinglever detached; Fig. 5, a vertical section through thebreech-piece at the pivot of the levers on line .fc rr of Fig. 2; Fig.6, a top view of the ring-pin; Figs. 7 and S, modiiications. Thisinvention relates to an improvement in that class of firearms in whichthe breechpiece is arranged to move back and forward 3o in an axial linewith the barrel to open and close the breech, and particularly to thatclass in which the breechpiece is provided with a ring-pinlongitudinallyT through it, against the rear end of which the hammer 3 5strikes to impart its blow to the cartridge, and in which thebreech-piece is locked in its closed position bya brace hung to thebreechpiece upon its under side andadapted to take a bearing against anabutment in the receiver 4o below, and so that the said brace rises inthe act of unlocking the breech-piece,and then passes rearward with thebreech-piece in the opening movement, and in closing the brace movesforward with the breech-piece, and when the breech-piece has arrived atits closed position the brace is turned against its abutment to supportthe breech-piece against the recoil of the charge.

In the employment of a firing-pin it is de- 5o sirable that it shall besupported so that it cannot possibly reach the primer in the head of thecartridge until the breech-piece is securely locked.

Devices have been employed to throw the ringpin backward-that is, giveit a retreating ni ovement-as the breech-piece commences its openingmovement, and which movement of the -iring-pin is imparted to the hammerto give that a rear movement in advance of the breech-piece, the hammeralways resting against the iiring-pin. IVhile ordinarily this movementof the iiringpin and hammer will give protection against possibleaccidental discharge of the cartridge, if the hammer is permitted tofollow the cartridge in its return, as it may do if the trigger is heldfrom engagement with the hammer, the hammer will force the firing-pinhard against the primer in the last part of the closing movement of thebreech-piece, and accidental discharge is liable 7o to occur. Seriousaccidents or dilliculties are therefore liable to occur where the hammerrests against the rear end of the iiring-pin.

The object of my invention is to overcome this difficulty; and itconsists in a guard for the firing-pin, arranged for longitudinalmovement in the breech-piece independent of the firing-pin, and so as toabut against the hammer, combined with mechanism to impart to saidguarda rear movement before the breech- So piece commences its openingmovement, and whereby tlie'hammer is thrown rearward in advance of theiiring-pin, and also in combining therewith a mechanism inthebreech-peceadapted to throw the firing-pin rearward dur- 8 5 ing the last part ofthe rear movement of the breech-piece, and as more fully hereinafterdescribed.

In the illustration of the invention I show it as in that class of armsin which the 1nove- 9o ment of the breech-piece-its locking andnnlocking-is imparted through a slide beneath the barrel operated by ahandle or otherwise; but the mechanism for operating the brace andbreec`n-piece constitutes no part ol' my inven- 95 tion.

A represents the receiver, to the forward end of which the barrel B isarranged in the usual manner; C, the breech-piece, arranged in thereceiver for longitudinal reciprocating roo movement in axial line vwiththe barrel in opening and closing; D, the hammer, hung upon a pivot, a;E, the brace, hung to the breech-piece near its forward end,and,extending rearward, isfadapted to be turned downward and forward against anabutment, F, in the receiver, as seen in Fig. 1, to lock thebreech-piece in its closed position, and from which abutment the braceis raised in the act of opening the breech-piece, as seen in Fig. 2,

- the brace as here represented constructed with a downwardly-projectingarm, G, with which the slide H engages. These parts are all con-Structed and arranged in the usual manner.

Longitndinally through the breech-piece is the firing-pin I, of usualconstruction and arrangement, so as to receive the blow of the hammer atthe rear, and its nose, projecting through the forward end of thebreech-piece, is adapted to impart the blow of the hammer to the primerof the cartridge in the barrel.

In the breech-piece the guard J is arranged. This guard is best made intubular form, to substantially surround the rear portion of thefiring-pin, but movable longitudinally in the breech -piece independentof the firing-pin. The guard extends to the rear, so that it may bemoved rearward beyond the rear end of the breech-piece against thehammer.

In the breech-piece and over the brace E a bell-crank lever is hung upona pivot, b, one arm, K, of which ext-ends upward through a slot, d, inthe breech-piece, and so as to engage the guard J, as seen in Fig. Theother arm, L, "extends downward over the brace E, as seen in Fig. l, andso that as the brace E is raised, as seen in Fig. 2, it will strike thearm L ofthe said bell-crank lever and turn that arm upward and thc otherarm, K, rearward,

A; lever L is hung.

which movement of the said lever forces the guard J rearward against thehammer, and so as to turn the hammer, say, to the half cock notch, andthis movement of the guard is independent of both the firing pin and thebreech-piece, and so that the hammer is thrown backward from possiblecontact with the end of the firing-pin until such time as the ham mershall be released. The rear movement of the breech-piece and the braceholds the guard in this position during the entire rear movement of thebreech-piece.

It is desirable to maintain the firing-pin in l the breechpiece withperfect freedom-that is, so that it shall not become set--and it is alsodesirable that it shall be thrown back during the last part of the rearmovement of the breech-piece. For this purpose I arrange a second lever,preferably in bell-crank shape, and preferably upon the samepivot,b,that the One arm, e, of thislever eX- tends up into a slot, oragainstabearing in the firing-pin, as seen in Fig. l, the other arm, j",extending downward. Thelockingbracc has a vertical longitudinal slot, g,formed in it,(see Fig. 4,) in the plane of the said arm f of the lever,and so that the movement of the brace has no effect upon the firing-pinlever; but

when the brace is raised in the openingmove ment the slot g in the bracepermits the brace to pass upward, the arm f entering` the said recess g,as seen in Fie'. 2.

rlhe guard J, as before described, is thrown rearward before thebreeeh-piece commences its rear movement. After the guard has thus beenthrown rearward the `breech-piece is moved rearward in the usualmanner,the guard forcing the hammer toits rear position, and socontinuing, the arm f of the firing-pin lever will strike a projection,t', on the hannnerjust as the breech-piece completes its rear movement,and in the completion ofsuch rear movement the contact of the arm f withthe projection t' on the hammer will turn the firing-pin lever rearwardand throw the fring-pin rearward, as seen in Fig. 3, and withdraw thepoint of the firing-pin to the rear of the front face of thebreech-piece. On the return or closing movement of the breech-piece thefiringpin will be free so soon as the arm fof its lever escapes from theprojection on the hammer, but the guard J will still be held by thebrace in its rear position until the breech-piece has arrived at itsextreme forward position,as seen in Fig. 2, and then still held untilthe brace has been thrown down intoitslocked position, so that the guardwill support the hammer against possible contact with the firing-pinuntil such time as the breech-piece is locked. Because of suchimpossible contact between the hammer and firing-pin, it is impossiblethat an accident can occur by improper manipnlation ofthebrecch-pieceand hammer in the closing movement, as the guard forms apositive and absolute protect-ion againstsuch possible accident.

I have represented the guard-lever as actuated by the brace E in itsupward or opening movement; but the locking and operating de' vicesinthis class of arms are numerous, and the guard is adapted to be used inconnection with either of the known operating devices. It is onlynecessary to illustrate one modification to show this adaptation-say thewell-known Vinchcster arm, in which the locking devices arein the formof a toggle, one end of one link attached to the breech-piece and theother to the receiver, as indicated in Fig. 7. In such case the forwardlink, M, will be constructed with a bearing-point, N, to engage thedownwardly-projecting arm L of the guard-lever as the said link descendsin the opening movement. I therefore do not wish to be understood aslimiting the operation of the guard to the brace first described. I havealso illustrated the firing-pin lever as actuated by a projection on thehammer; but it will be understood that any bearing-point at the rear inthe path of the firing-pin lever will turn that lever the same as docsthe projection t', for, practically, when the hammer is in its rearposition, the projection/i acts substantially as a fixed bearing in thereceiver. Such abearing is indicated atl in broken lines, Fig. 1. Thispart of my invention is therefore not to be IOO understood as limited tothe hammer as the bearing in the path of the firing-pin lever.

The ringpin lever may be omitted entirely, the guard serving all thepurposes of protecting the iiring-pin; but the tiring-pin 1ever isdesirable, for the purposes hereinbefore mentioned.

Instead of making the guard in tubular form, as I have described, it maybe otherwise arranged-say as seen in Fig. S-in the form of a bar workingin a longitudinal groove between the firing-pin and the breech-piece;but I prefer the tubular character which I have described.

I claim" 1. In a breech-loading fire-arm in which the breech-piece isarranged to reciprocate in a longitudinal line with the barrel inopening and closing the breech, and in which a firingpin is arrangedlongitudinally through the breeel1-piece to receive the blow of theha1nmer upon its rear end, and impart that blow through its point to thecartridge, the combination therewith of a guard arranged longitudinallyin the breech-piece and extending to the rear against the hammer, and alever hung in the breech-piece arranged to engage said guard, the saidlever adapted to be turned by the operative parts of the arm in theiirst part of the opening movement of the breech-piece, substantially asdescribed, and whereby said guard receives a rear movement against thehammerindepen'dent of both the breech-piece and liring-pin,substantially as described.

2. In a? breech-loading rire-arm in which the breeclrpiece is arrangedto reciprocate in a line longitudinally with the barrel in opening andclosing the barrel, and in which a iringpin is arranged longitudinallythrough the breech-piece to receive the blow of the hammer at the rear,and impart such blow to `the cartridge forward, the combinationtherewith of a locking-brace hung to said breechpiece and adapted to beturned against an abutment in the receiver after the breechpiece isclosed, and raised from said abutment before the breech-piece commencesits opening movement, a guard arranged longitudinally in saidbreech-piece, extending to the rear and against 'the hammer, and abell-crank lever hung upon a pivot in said breech-piece and over saidbrace, one arm of said lever adapted to engage said guard and theotherto engage said brace, substantially as described, and whereby inthe unlocking movement of said brace the said lever will be turnedandimpart a rear movement to said guard inde pendent of both thebreech-piece and the firing-pin.

3. In a breech-loading fire-arm substantially such as described, thecombination of the longitudinallyreciprocating breech-piece C, thefiring-pin I, arranged longitudinally through said breech-piece, thehammer hung at the rear adapted to strike said firing-pin, a guard, J,arranged longitudinally in said breech-piece, mechanism, substantiallysuch as described, to impart reciprocating movement to saidbreech-piece, a lever hung in said breech-piece, one arm adapted toengage said guard and the other the said mechanism, a second lever hungin said breech-piece, one arm adapted to engage the firing-pin, and abearing in thc path of said second arm of said firing-pin lever as thebreech-piece approaches its extreme rear position, substantially asdescribed, and whereby the said guard is thrown rearward againstthchammer in the unlocking movement of the breech-piece independent both ofthe firing-piu and breech-piece, and the said firing-pin thrown rearwardduring the last part of the opening movement of the breech-pieceandimlependent both of said guard and breech-piece, substantially asdescribed. v

4. In a breechloading fire-arm substan tially such as described, thecombination of the longitudinally-reciprocating breech-piece C, `theliring-pin I, arranged through said breech-piece, a hammer hung at therear adapted to strike said firing-pin, a guard, J, arrangedlongitudinally in said breech-piece, mechanism, substantially such asdescribed, to

impart reciprocating movement to said breech-` piece, a lever hung insaid breech-piece, one arm adapted to engage said guard and the otherthc said mechanism, and a second lever hung in said breech-piece, onearm adapted to engage the firing-pin, the hammer constructed with aprojection, i, adapted to engage the second arm of the iring-pin leveras the breechpiece approaches its extreme rear position, substantiallyas described, and whereby the said guard is thrown rearward against thehammer in the unlocking movement ofthe breech-piece independent both ofthe firing pin and breech-piece, and the said iiring-pin thrown rearwardduring the last part oi" the opening movement of the breech-piece andindependent both of said guard `and breechpiece, substantially asdescribed.

CARL .T. EHBETS.

Vitiiesses:

JOHN E. Blame, FRED C. EARLE.

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